Everyone should experience traveling solo at least once in their lifetime. It can be intimidating and daunting, but it can also be thrilling, eye opening, and life changing. Here are some of the best ways I’ve found to make friends while traveling solo:

1. Stay in a hostel

My favorite place to look for the best hostels is Hostelworld by far! You can filter your search to fit exactly what you’re looking for. I always make sure the hostel has free Wi-Fi, bar, common areas, lockers and AC. If they happen to offer any free walking tours or excursions even better. All of these provide me with the opportunity to make friends while traveling solo!

2. Take the waking tour

Look – I get it. Sometimes I get tired from traveling between all the bus rides, airplanes, and walking to finally make it to my hostel. Trust me, the last thing I want to do is go on a walking tour for 2-3 hours, but it’s so worth it! A) It’s (usually) free, just tip your guide at the end and B) not only do you get to know all the history and areas of the city, but you get to make friends, even when you’re traveling solo. This is how I met my friends Rose and Zoya, on our free walking tour in Porto from PILOT Design Hostel & Bar. The tour was over and it was time for lunch. I didn’t know anyone so far, so I walked up to them and asked if I could crash their lunch plans! That was 2017 years ago and we’re still friends to this day!

3. Family dinners at hostel

I enjoy going out to dinner by myself from time to time, I’ll usually bring a notebook or book along. But once I start making friends in the hostel, all I want to do is get to know them better. And a great way to do this is to have family dinner at your hostel. Most hostels will offer a meal and a drink (more like unlimited drinks lol) for $10-$20, which is not bad if you ask me. During my stay in Lisbon, the meals at Yes! Lisbon were delicious!

4. Join a Pub Crawl

I like to enjoy a drink or two when I’m out on a new town. With time I’ve found that pub crawls are the best way to hit up all the best bars in one night. Most hostels will offer a deal with dinner that includes the pub crawl for just an extra couple of bucks. For example, I may want to have dinner at my hostel 2 nights, but only go on a pub crawl once – totally doable! This is exactly what I did when I stayed at the GSpot Party Hostel in Lisbon! One night I did their family dinner, and the next I did their family dinner + pub crawl! All the friends I made while traveling solo? They came on the pub crawl with me and we had so much fun!

5. Utilize the common areas

A common area can be the lobby, a game room, a bar, a kitchen, a dinning room, pool, etc. Everyone in a hostel is down to make friends, especially if traveling solo, so don’t be afraid to pull out a chair and join a conversation. See a group of people playing cards in the lobby? Ask if you can join the next round! There’s people making dinner in the kitchen? Ask if you can pitch in and join them for dinner!

These are all ways that I’ve personally been able to make friends when traveling solo. I’ve joined multiple family dinners, pub crawls and walking tours, and always found somebody to talk to! I may not still be in contact with everybody I’ve met along the way, but I stay in touch through social media with most!